Snowplow



ReissuedJan. 12,1954.

FFlCE SNOWPLOW Isak Vanvick', Minneapolis, Minn, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Merry Manufacturing I 7 Company, Inc., a corpo'ration of Washington Original No. 2,581415. dated February 26, 1952;

Serial No. 6,219, February 4, 1948. Application for reissue September 18, 1953, Serial No.

1 Claim.

Matter enclosed in heavy brackets I 1 appears in the original patent but forms no part of this reissue specification: matter printed in italics indicates the additions made by reissue.

This invention has relation to a snowplow. An object of the invention is to provide a machine for removing or handling snow wherein willbe incorporated desirable and improved features and characteristics of construction novel both as individual entities of the machine and in combination with each other.

A further object is to provide a machine for removing snow which can be self-propelling.

A further object is to provide a snow handling 2 a a lower wall If, and a cylindrical wall 45 dieposed between said rear wall II and the upper, lower and side walls. A rear part-cylindrical wall 48, between the end walls It and It and ex- 7 'terior of the cylindrical wall 45, connects the upper and lower walls It and i1. The rear wall II, the side walls It and it, the upper wall II, the

lower wall H. the cylindrical wall 45 and the machine which will be effective in wet and sticky SHOW.

A further object is to provide a snow plow iners which will appear as the specification proceeds, the invention'comprises the construction, arrangement and combination of parts as now to be fully described and hereinafter to be specifically claimed, it being understood that the disclosure herein is merely illustrative and intended in no way in a limiting sense, changes in details of construction and arrangement of parts being permissibleas long as within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims which follow.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a snow plow made according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevational view of the snow plow of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view, taken on line 3-3 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view, taken as on line 4-4 in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a, detail sectional view, taken as on line 5-5 in Fig. 3: and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevational view detailing an adjustable deflector of the snow plow.

With respect to the drawings and the numerals of reference thereon, It represents a frame of the snow plow, ll indicates supporting wheels for said frame, and i2 designates guide handles on said frame for said snowplow. The snowplow is adapted to be manually guided, and a rotatable element and feed screws of a snow removing or handling entity of said snowplow are adapted to be driven through the instrumentality of mechanism to be described. The snowplow can be propelled either manually or through the instrumentality of the feed screws.

The frame It includes an upright rear wall If, upright side walls It and If, an upper wall ll,

part-cylindrical wall ll are integrally connected in any suitable and convenient manner, as by welding or riveting.

The rear wall II, the side walls I4 and II, the

' upper wall It, the lower wall II, the cylindrical gitudinal horizontal shaft 2| and is situated in an annular chamber 22 contiguous with the rear wall I3 and provided by the cylindrical wall It. A passageway 23 is bounded by said cylindrical wall and upper wall It, is located forwardly of and is contiguous with said annular chamber 22. Opposite end portions of said shaft II are mounted in the rear wall It and in a sear box 24 suitably and conveniently supported, as at 25, upon the midlength of the upper wall Ii. One of the feed screws i9, II is right and the other is left, and said feed screws it, ill are fixedly supported upon a transverse horizontal shaft 26 disposed forwardly of the annular chamber 22 and having its opposite ends rotatably mounted, as at 21, upon the side walls It and II. An intermediate part of the shaft 28 is mounted, as at 28, in the gear box, and the feed screws l9 and 2| are'at opposite sides of said gear box directly in front of the annular passageway fl to the annular chamber 22. r

The supporting wheels H are upon a rearward portion of the frame ill, and a forward portion of the lower wall I! of said frame is adapted to lie in adjacent relation to the ground while the snowplow is being propelled through v the medium of the handles l2. Lower portions,- of the feed screws l9 and 20 are at an elevation a trifle above that of said lower wall I! when the I 3 gear 32 flxed on the .shaft fl, and a worm II on said shaft 2i meshes with a worm gear 34 fixed upon said shaft 2|. Upon operation of the internal combustion engine 2!, the rotatable element is will be driven or turned through the instrumentality of the gears II and 3! and the shaft 2i, and the shaft 26, together with the feed screws IO and 20 fixed thereon, will .be driven or turned through the instrumentality of said gears II and 3!, said shaft II, said worm gear I! and said worm gear ll.

Forward portions of the side walls I l and ID, the upper wall It, the lower wall l1 and partcylindrical wall 46 together form an open faced snow gathering chamber in which the feed screws operate. The forward portion of upper wall It extends upward and outward from the top of the feed screws l9 and 2D. The part-cylindrical wall 46 is concentric with and situated close to the feed screws Ill and I0, and the forward margin of said lower wall I1 is constituted as a knife edge 35.

The rotatable element II is constituted as a pair of snow transporting elements 38 situated at opposite sides of and disposed radially of the shaft 2|. Each snow transporting element 36 is straight in the direction of its length and curvilinear. in cross-section.

The snow transporting elements 38 are arranged concentrically of and in comparatively close relation to the cylindrical wall bounding the annular chamber 22, and said snow transporting The rotatable element II is revolved so that its snow transporting elements 38 move in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 5, and said snow transporting elements 38 have width a bit less than the width of the annular chamber 22. The arrangement is such that the concave surfaces of the snow transporting elements are the working and transporting surfaces, respectively, thereof.

The shaft 26, with the feed screws is, III,- is revolved so that said feed screws'will cause snow to be fed interiorly of the snow plow, toward the gear box 24.

The vertical outlet passageway 81 supports an adjustable snow deflector 38 which can be of ordinary or preferred construction, and means for manipulating said adjustable snow deflector is supported upon the guide handles II. More explicitly, the lower end portion is of the snow deflector 38 is rotatably supported uponthe upper end portion of the vertical outlet passageway 31, a clip Ill is for the purpose of retaining said snow deflector 38 and outlet passageway 11 in assembled relation, and a gear ll at the lower end of said snow deflector is for accomplishing rotational adjustment of the snow deflector. An adjusting rod 42, rotatably supported on the guide handles I! in any suitable and convenient manner, fixedly carries a gear 43 which is in mesh with the jgear 4i. Clearly, the snow deflector 38 can be adjustably rotated on the outlet passageway 31 in response to rotation of the adjusting rod 42.

A rotatable adjusting rod 44, also on the guide handles [2, is adapted to be manipulated to the accomplishment of control of the internal cornbustion engine 29. Said internal combustion engine can be of any character suitable to its.

intended purpose.

The manner in which the snow plow operates v will be evident. The plow may be propelled either manually from the guide handle I! or under the power of the engine 28. when power propulsion is desired, the guide handles are elevated to tlpthe snow plow forward. This brings feed screws elements are in vertical alinement with a vertical outlet passageway 31 from said annular chamber.'

wheels II in spaced relation with the ground The construction and arrangement are such that feed screws Is and 20 will be rotated in direction 7 to cause the snow plow to be propelled forwardly when the feed screws are rested on the ground.

Under either method of propulsion, the open faced snow gathering chamber willdirect the snow and ice into the snow plow. The forward portion of, upper wall It will direct snow down into the feed screws I9 and 20, while said feed screws cooperate to feed and direct snow and ice from the front of the snow plow to the annular passageway 23 whence said snow and ice will enter the annular chamber 22 concurrently with movement ahead of the snow plow. The part-cylindrical wall it and the side walls I4 and I, by their close proximity to the rotating feed screws l9 and II. act to prevent any sticln! or wet snow from accumulating adjacent to the feed screws it and 20 where it would tend to retard the movement of said screws. The snow transporting elements 36 are adapted to cause-snow and ice to be forced through the outlet passageway 31 and the snow deflector ll out of the machine. Each snow transporting element 36 will carry an individual load or shovelful of snow up through said outlet passageway 31. The rotatable element III will be revolved at a high rate of speed, and the snow and ice will leave the outlet passageway 31 in the form of individual and separate charges of snow and ice each equal in amount to a shovelful of snow and ice forced out of the machine under considerable momentum by the centrifugal force exerted through the snow transporting elements II.

What is claimed is:

[1. A drive mechanism for a snow plow com prising a helical feed screw horizontally and transversely mounted on said plow at a forward portion thereof and disposedto have a lowermost part of said screw normally slightly spaced from and immediately adjacent the ground. power actuated means for causing said feed screw to be rotated, a pair of supporting wheels rotatably mounted on said plow on an aids parallel to the axis of said feed screw and rearward thereof for supporting the plow in normal operation under manual propulsion, and an actuating handle rigid with said plow for manually propelling and guiding said plow in normal operation and for raising said wheels from the ground and bringing said feedscrew in operative connection with the ground to effect forward drive of the plow in response to actuation of said power actuated means] [2. In a rotary snow plow having a helical feed screw at a forward portion thereof for conveying snow to a rotary snow transporting element disposed rearwardly of and communicating with said feed screw, a drive mechanism comprising said helical feed screw horizontally and transversely mounted to have a lowermost portion thereof in close proximity to the ground, power actuated means for causing sani feed screw to for supporting said plow in normal operation under manual propulsion, and an actua handie rigid with said plow for manually p i' ogelling r and guiding said plow in normal operation and said frame operably connected with said prime mover, of a helical feed screw horizontallyand transversely mounted on a forward portion of said frame in close proximity to the ground for conveying snow to a position directly forward of said snow transporting unit, means connecting said prime mover and said helical feed screw to ground and bringing said feed screw in operative connection with the ground to effect forward drive of the plow in response to rotation of the feed screw] 4. In a rotary self-propelled snow-plow, a.

frame having a steering handle extending rearwardly therefrom, a power source carried by said frame, a pair of axially aligned helical feed screws of opposite pitch journal-mounted on a forward portion of said frame and having a common ,rotary axis horizontal and transverse of said frame, said frame being formed rearwardly of said feed screws to provide an annular chamber with a discharge outlet and an open front, said feed screws being arranged to feed snow centrally and direct it rearwardly to said chamber as the feed screws are rotated downwardly at a forward portion thereof, said feed screws giving ground support for at least part of the weight of the snow-plow so as to have sufllcient traction to propel the snow-plow forwardly as said feed screws are rotated as aforesaid, a rotary snow transporting element journal-mounted in said chamber for cooperation therewith and for rotation in a direction for discharging the snow fed to the chamber through said outlet, the rotary axis of said element lying substantially in a vertical plane perpendicular to the common rotary axis of the feed screws at a point substantially midway between said feed screws, said chamber having a majority of its open front disposed between the ground and a horizontalplane tangent to the upper edges of the feed screws, said frame having side walls extending rearwardly of said feed screws to, help direct the rearwardly fed snow to said chamber, and means interconnecting said power source with said feed screws and snow transporting element to cause the same to rotate as aforesaid in response to the operation of said power source.

ISAK VANVICK.

References Cited in the fileof this patent or the original patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,587,449 Wandscheer June 1, 1926 1,636,168 Butterfield July 19, 1927 1,701,787 Messlin Feb. 12, 1929 1,820,707 Moen et al Aug. 25, 1931 2,092,536 Sicard -Sept. 7, 1937 2,151,491 Washburn Mar. 21, 1939 2,168,866 Gehl "Aug. 8, 1939 2,220,342 Maga Nov. 5, 1940 2,278,220 Sicard Mar. 31,1942 2,373,318 Lewin a Apr. 10,1945 2,375,965 Turtle May 15, 1945 2,381,017 Wandscheer Aug. 7, 1945 2,642,680 Curtis et a1 June 23, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 27,779 Australia June 18, 1931 of 1930 298,119 Great Britain Oct. 11, 1928 

